Al Aufi calls for GCC-wide manufacturing of critical power equipment

MUSCAT: The Minister of Energy and Minerals, Eng Salim bin Nasser al Aufi, has called for greater cooperation among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to manufacture critical electricity infrastructure components within the region, warning against continued dependence on overseas suppliers for essential systems.

Speaking at GCC POWER 2026 in Muscat on Monday, November 2, Al Aufi said recent events had demonstrated the importance of strengthening regional industrial capabilities and securing the equipment needed to maintain critical infrastructure.

He argued that the combined Gulf market was large enough to support manufacturing activities that might not be economically viable for individual countries.

“We are not a small market, and therefore the market here is big enough to withstand localising a lot of those components,” he said.

The minister stressed that localisation should be approached as a collective Gulf undertaking rather than a competition between individual countries to establish their own manufacturing facilities.

“It’s not localising in Oman, it’s not localising in Saudi Arabia, it’s not localising in the UAE. It’s localising within the GCC,” he said.

His remarks highlighted the potential for regional electricity cooperation to extend beyond infrastructure development into industrial production, investment and employment.

Al Aufi said greater coordination would require harmonised technical standards and common codes across GCC countries, allowing equipment and components manufactured within the region to meet shared requirements.

Such an approach, he explained, could create opportunities for investment, employment and the local production of equipment currently sourced from international suppliers.

The minister also linked industrial localisation to the resilience of essential infrastructure, arguing that recent developments had exposed the risks associated with relying heavily on external markets.

“We can’t continue depending on our critical systems, at least, to be an importer of all the goods and the facilities and the standards and the mechanics that we need from outside,” he said.

He added that Gulf countries needed to begin developing their own capabilities to meet future requirements.

The proposed approach would require countries to assess which components could be manufactured competitively within the GCC, taking advantage of the region’s combined demand rather than pursuing separate national production strategies.

Al Aufi acknowledged that achieving such coordination would present challenges but said the priority was to ensure that essential equipment and capabilities remained available to Gulf countries.

He pointed to cooperation during recent months as evidence that GCC states could work together and generate shared benefits.

The minister said the issue was likely to receive further attention during ministerial discussions at the conference.

His remarks placed industrial localisation alongside technical integration as a potential next stage in Gulf electricity cooperation, with implications for regional manufacturers, investors and the long-term security of power infrastructure.